


A Home For Chaos

by GnohomasWitness



Category: Runescape (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 08:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15577386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GnohomasWitness/pseuds/GnohomasWitness
Summary: Adam "Kananga" Neeson enters the Wilderness to put an end to his nightmares for good. On the way he meets Rallis Fatalis, a fellow Legend’s guild member who joins him on his quest to battle a fearsome beast that has haunted the world since the first age.





	1. The Lone Wanderer and The Dragon Lady

             The dead air hung heavy and dry over the desolate Wilderness. The forsaken province in the north known as the Wilderness had been the spot of a fiery explosion that scarred the once peaceful province of Forinthry forever and brought a devastating end to the god wars over two millennia ago. Decomposed fallout from that ancient inferno still coated much of the Wilderness in a pale dust with no wind to sweep it away. In the ages since Zamorak unleashed that apocalyptic hellfire, the Wilderness had become the home for chaos and psychotic horror on Gielinor, or so the stories say.

             A lone wanderer trudged through the barren wasteland. It was Adam Neeson, the Legendary Green Kananga. Small clouds of fine dust and chalky fallout erupted from the dead ground with each drag of his exhausted boots. Like a zombie, he stumbled onward, feeling barely alive. It wasn’t the oppressive desolation of the wilderness that was slowing him down, he had been there many times before. This time was different, Adam hadn’t had a good night's sleep a week. It’s not that he wasn’t tired, he certainly was, it was his dreams which he was avoiding.

             Horrible nightmares of fire and rage filled his mind every night. It had been years since his nightmares had consumed him to this degree. If he should close his eyes to sleep in this state, he would begin to dream of unthinkable hatred and violence. They were dreams of the very same chaos that crawled through his skin in the underground pass. He could barely sleep for more than an hour before waking up in a cold sweat from another murderous fantasy.

             Adam let out a muffled sigh through the mask of his serpentine helmet. The sound was distorted by the breathing filter. There was one thing about the nightmares from the past few weeks that was different from the ones he would have before. In every single dream this past week, a horrible cloud would show up at the end. A living lightning storm with long tentacles. It was the Beast of pure chaos that had existed since the advent of order. Whenever that thing showed up in his dream, that’s when Adam would wake up. He took it as a hint, he didn’t know why, but he knew that the Beast was involved. Adam knew how to stop the nightmares and that’s what he was going to do. This time he’d end it. That’s why he dragged his withered and weary body out to the home of chaos itself, to slay the Beast that haunted his dreams.

             The dazed march of the lone wanderer was interrupted by a loud roar. Adam sprung into action. The heavy thud of a massive creature landing on four legs echoed in the distance. He couldn’t hear where it was coming from but he knew he had to get out of sight. The deadliest thing in the wilderness was what hit you before you knew it was there. Adam ran toward a dead tree and crouched as he surveyed the landscape. He immediately found what made the noise. A green dragon had just landed under one hundred feet away. Before long, another dragon came into view, then another, and another. It was a whole pride! Adam was right on the edge of green dragon territory!

              _Shit! I didn’t know I was this far east!_

             Keeping low, Adam shuffled around the trunk of the tree to hide from the dragons. He prayed to Saradomin between the swears under his breath that they couldn’t see or smell him. Adam pressed against the trunk of the dead tree and held his breath while he listened with his other ear. The dragons weren’t coming toward him, or at least they didn’t sound like they were. Adam looked to the north, that was his only option. He crept out from behind the tree. The dragons still didn’t see him yet. With only a rune crossbow, a dragon sword and a rune kiteshield painted with his Legends’ guild crest, Adam was completely ill-equipped to fight dragons. He tiptoed along the dusty ground as he made his way north.

             Suddenly, Adam heard a voice in the distance. His heart froze and he stopped dead in his tracks. Soon, multiple other voices joined in. Adam dove into a nearby ditch and peeked over the top. There were humans, nearly twelve of them. In a place like the wilderness, humans were just as dangerous as any monster if not more.

              _Anti-dragon shields, and spears! They’re dragon hunters!_

             Adam watched the group as they walked toward the dragons. He couldn’t make out the specifics of their banter but they were clearly confident, Adam could hear the occasional laugh. The dragon hunters began to split up and surround the dragons in their territory. Two of them continued straight toward the ditch.

              _Shit… they’re getting too close…_ Adam cursed to himself.

             Adam went prone and crawled along the ditch and around a corner to evade the dragon hunters. The ditch was leading him far too close to the dragons for his liking but it beat having to bump into those hunters. It was a common tactic for murderers roaming the wilderness to disguise themselves as simple monster hunters in order to lower the guard of unsuspecting victims.

             Adam crawled out of the ditch and hid behind a rock as he watched the dragon hunters close in on the pride with their spears drawn. He hated that sort of systematic killing of monsters for profit. He preferred the honour of a real fight against a worthy opponent. Then again, maybe that was why he never had any money.

             The dragon hunters had encircled the entire pride in no time. They poked and prodded at the dragons with their spears as they rounded them up into a cramped mass. They were clearly professionals at this.

             The larger green dragons growled as they protected the smaller ones. They couldn’t get close enough to claw at the hunters because of their spears and their fire was simply blocked by anti-dragon shields.

             One of the largest of the dragons looked back at the smaller ones huddled in the circle and let out a worried growl. The dragon then pounced on one of the hunters only to be met with a sharp spear to the heart and was tossed aside. It hit the ground hard and was promptly stabbed in the head before it could even try get up.

              A few of the smaller dragons let out a distressed cry and the whole pride began freaking out. The hunters raised their spears threateningly.

              Suddenly a loud female voice could be heard from afar. “NOOOOOOOOOO!” The voice cried out. That was no dragon roar.

             Adam turned to see an odd blue figure running toward the hunters. The dragons howled. As the figure drew closer to the fray, Adam realized who it was. He had only read about her and heard tales from other adventurers. The stories were true, the dragon lady from the Legends’ guild!

              _Rallis Fatalis!_  Adam muttered as he watched from behind the rock.

             Rallis charged at the dragon hunters, they exchanged glances, a couple of them left the circle and faced Rallis. “You there! Halt!” One of them shouted at the dragon woman. “We have claimed these dragons!”

             “They aren’t yours to claim!” Rallis shouted as she launched herself onto one of the hunters. She landed on the man, her claws dug into him and she tore him apart, the other hunter couldn’t even point his spear at Rallis before her frozen whip cut through him like butter.

             Other men began to leave the circle and point their spears at Rallis. There were now clear holes in the formation around the dragons.

             “Go!” Rallis shouted. “Protect the little ones! I’ll deal with these guys!”

             The green dragons ran away in a stampede and took off into the sky.

             “The herd is escaping!” One of the hunters shouted.

             “We’ll catch them to the west! Kill the blu…arrrrgghh!” Another shouted before being stabbed in the throat by Rallis.

             Adam had never seen anyone move and kill so quickly and efficiently. It would have been awe inspiring were it not so terrifying. He watched Rallis as she tore through the men at a lightning fast speed, kicking up a cloud of dust as she went. Soon the whole battlefield was obscured by the dust of the wilderness. Adam got up from behind the rock. He hated to get caught in the crossfire here but he had to do something. They weren’t good men, Adam could see that, but they were getting slaughtered. He had heard stories of Rallis Fatalis chasing adventurers away from their slayer tasks in the past, but he never knew she could be this brutal. The land of chaos is no home for heroes.

_Guess the unlucky ones don’t live to tell the tale…_  Adam thought to himself. This had to stop. He loaded his crossbow and pointed it forward as he slowly crept into the thick cloud of dust and fallout. Even with the visor of his helmet shielding his eyes from the dust, it was difficult to see anything. He could hear the occasional scream grow in pitch before cutting to a gurgled silence. Adam knew it was the sound of someone getting their throat ripped open. The tension was as thick as the dust. Any moment, someone or something could jump out at him. An unexperienced combatant would have gone insane in such a situation, but Kananga knew to use his ears. He stayed calm, not revealing his location until he had something to shoot at. He could feel that Fatalis wasn’t close enough to him to be a threat, yet. He couldn’t hear anymore shouting from the dragon hunters though, he must have been too late. Entering this cloud had been a mistake.

             Suddenly, Adam tripped over something that was laying on the ground. He broke his fall with a combat roll and stumbled back onto his feet. It wasn’t the best form but he was exhausted. He looked down at what he had tripped on. Adam grunted as he knelt beside the shredded corpse of one of the dragon hunters.

             The dragon hunter’s face was frozen in an eternal scream and his throat was torn up. Across the man’s chest, Adam could see the slash from Rallis’ whip.

             “Poor bastard.” Adam muttered as he shut the dragon hunter’s eyes for good. “Rest in peace, you damn poacher.”

             The dust was beginning to clear. Adam looked to his left and to his right, the dragon woman was nowhere to be seen. He started get up. A loud scurrying sound came from directly behind.

             Before Adam could turn around or ready his weapon, an icy whip wrapped around his neck, strangling him. The attacker had caught Adam with his pants down. Someone pulled tight on the whip which caused Adam to fall off his feet and into an awkward sitting position. By instinct, Adam tried to pry his fingers under the whip and position his legs to allow him to stand. It was no use.

             “Stop struggling or I’ll bite your head off!” A female voice shouted into his ear.

             Adam growled. “Rallis! Let go of me!”

             The dragon woman pulled tighter on her whip and brought her tail to Adam’s face. She used her tail to rip the mask off his helmet. “Who the hell are you and how do you know my name?” She growled.

             Adam spit out a response as best he could. “Kananga… Legends’ guild… Fatalis!”

             “You know my title?” Rallis shouted as she continued to pull. “How? Who are you?!”

             Adam was going to pass out soon. He could already feel his temples pulsing. He turned his head around as far as it would go in an attempt to look Rallis in the eye. Adam could see the dragon’s snarling face in the corner of his delirious and fading view. Adam really hoped that she would recognize his face. It was unlikely, she barely hung out in the guilds, if at all. “You’re in the… arrghh… Legends’… Rallis Fatalis… you… explored Kreathkren… I… read… your report…” Adam could see Rallis’ eyes flicker for a moment when he said that.

             Rallis tugged at her whip violently and wrenched Adam’s neck. “Were these your men?! Or were you one of them? Why would you kill a bunch of innocent creatures? You monster! They have families!”

             Adam’s voice was nothing more than a gurgle at this point. “No! Not… killing dragons!” He blurted as his green face began to turn blue.

             Rallis wrenched at the whip again. “Liar! Why are you here then?”

             Adam was barely conscious. “Look… what… I’m wearing! Do you think…” He choked. “I could… kill a dragon… without an… anti-dragon shield?” Things were going black.

             Rallis stopped and thought. She loosened the whip.

             Adam gasped for air.

             Suddenly, Rallis pulled back on the whip and began strangling Adam again. “Wait a minute! My report is for Legends’ guild eyes only! How did you read it!? I mean I’m flattered but…”

             Adam couldn’t believe this was how it was going to end. “WhAT!? I told you! I’m… in the… Legends’ guild! I’m Green Kananga! Look… my shield…”

             Rallis leaned over to see the jogre painted on Adam’s shield. It was an official Legends’ guild issued shield with the name Green Kananga painted in large letters under the jogre’s face and on the inside. The dragon lady’s voice became rather friendly, but she didn’t let up on her whip. “Oh? You really are from the Legends’ guild! I’m afraid I’ve never heard of you.” She said embarrassedly as she continued to strangle him.

             “What?!” Adam grunted, his ego busted through his closing throat. “Really?”

             “No!” Rallis earnestly replied. “But why are you here then, Kananga?”

             “I just wanted to stop… the bloodbath… all… due respect… but you’re no judge and jury, Miss Fatalis… the dragons already got away… what right do you have… condemning men to death… for a failed crime?”

             Rallis thought about it. “I guess you’re right, Mr Kananga. I guess I figured they’d just kill more dragons if I let them go… So you really read my report? What did you think? I hope you didn’t go to that island yourself! Also, you can call me Rallis!” She smiled.

             “This conversation… would be… a lot more pleasant… if you weren’t strangling me… Miss Fatalis!”

             Rallis went red. “Oh, right…” She said as she unwrapped the whip from Adam’s neck.

             The conversation was interrupted by a thick, black smoke that began to engulf the two of them. Adam recognized the foul stench of the smoke immediately.

             “Smoke magic! Poison!” He shouted, trying the best he could not to breath it in.

             The two of them leaped away from the smoke cloud in opposite directions and got into their combat stances as they searched for the caster of the spell.

             Adam coughed, it didn’t seem like he had breathed in enough of the smoke for the poison to take hold. He turned his head frantically to identify the location of the attacker. All he could see however was Rallis doing the same.

             A quiet and cocky chuckle came from behind the two of them. Adam and Rallis spun around to face the source.

             In front of them stood a lone mage. The mage was pale with pure white hair that was short on the sides and back but with long bangs in front that partially obscured his face. He stood about as tall as Adam and wore a set of dark robes laced with his chainmail. In his hands he held an ancient staff of the empty lord.

             Adam braced himself at the sight of the mage with his forbidden staff. There was no question to him that this mage was the attacker. Smoke spells were a staple of the ancient magicks. Adam recognised the mage’s face. He was a Legends’ guild member, Miles Cochrine, Dark Phoenix. Phoenix wasn’t very well known or liked amongst those in the guild, but no less powerful than Green Kananga or Rallis Fatalis. Adam could feel the dark magical energies of the empty lord radiating from the mage.

             Phoenix ran his gloved hand through his hair and pulled his bangs out of his eyes. He looked upon the two fellow Legends facing him with their weapons drawn. He was unfazed.

             “Don’t move!” Adam snapped at the mage with his crossbow drawn. He didn’t know if Phoenix knew who he was. The two had never spoken before.

             The mage looked away from Rallis and Adam, ignoring Adam’s threat. He turned his head to the ground. With a scowl on his face, the mage poked one of the dead dragon hunters in the back with the base of his staff. “Did you do this?” Phoenix asked in an almost sleepy tone.

             Adam said nothing.

             Phoenix looked over at the single dead dragon. “Only one down… that’s not even worth the gold I was paying these guys.” He looked over to Adam. “You’re cuttin’ into my livelihood fella.”

             “They were your men?” Adam asked as he looked down the sights of his crossbow. “Can’t do your own dirty work?”

             “Not in the numbers I need.” Replied Phoenix. “These guys were pros…” He set his boot on top of the corpse. “I don’t even see the bolt…”

             Adam shot Rallis a glance for a brief second and then returned his full attention to the mage. Rallis was gripping her whip and shield tight and her teeth were fully bared as she snarled at Phoenix. She bounced up and down on her feet, preparing to charge at any time.

             Phoenix flipped over the corpse with his boot. That was when he saw the claw and whip marks all over the dead dragon hunter’s body. He looked back to Adam. “That’s not from  _you_  is it?” He asked.

             Adam shook his head and then tilted toward Rallis.

             The mage turned his head and looked Rallis up and down. “What the hell is that thing?” He asked Adam, pointing to Rallis with his thumb.

             Rallis leapt at the mage at lightning speed with her whip readied and her teeth gnashing.

             “Rallis, NO!” Adam shouted.

             Dark Phoenix was too quick, the second he saw the dragon lady coming toward him, he raised his staff and a whirlwind of ice shot from his hand and hit Rallis’ arms. The ice spell sent Rallis crashing down to the ground. The hard fall had her gasping for breath. The ice quickly began to grow along Rallis’ arms and anchored her in place on the wilderness floor.

             Rallis couldn’t move out of the way as the mage loomed over her. Phoenix was about do slam his staff into Rallis’ chest when he was suddenly hit by a broad bolt to the stomach.

             “Fuck!” Phoenix cursed, spitting up blood. He looked up from his bleeding stomach to see Adam, pointing the crossbow at him.

             “Step away from her!” Adam demanded. “Or the next shot will be between your eyes!”

              Phoenix let out another cocky laugh. “I hear you’re a good shot, Green Kananga!”

             Adam stayed cool, pretending to be unfazed by the fact that Phoenix knew who he was. “So you’ve heard of me!”

             “I’ve heard bits and pieces.” Phoenix spat. “Like how you never shoot to kill!” He shouted with an evil smile as he pushed his staff hard against Rallis’ chest.

             Rallis huffed as the wind was knocked out of her.

             Adam fired another shot, this time it hit Phoenix in the chest opposite to his heart. It had to have punctured a lung.

             The mage cursed and spat. “Now you’re not even trying!”

             “Doesn’t it hurt you?!” Adam shouted incredulously at the mage.

             “Zaros demands absolute control from his subjects!” Phoenix replied. “Pain doesn’t phase me!” The mage let out a roar and he lifted his arm up above Rallis. Red lightning shot out from Rallis’ chest and into Pheonix’s outstretched hand.

             Rallis cried out in horrible pain as she twitched on the ground, unable to protect herself from the magic. Blood began to drip from her nose and eyes.

             The crossbow bolts stuck in Phoenix’ body vaporized and his blood sank back into him as his wounds closed. The mage felt himself up and looked back to Adam with an evil smile on his face.

              _Blood magic… That’s how he got the name Phoenix…_ Adam remembered.  _He knows I won’t I kill him, he has nothing to fear from me…_   _Unless I can stop him from casting!_

             Phoenix stepped off Rallis who immediately started tugging at the ice blocks that anchored her arms to the ground.

             Adam holstered his crossbow and drew his sword. He had a plan. He clenched his teeth hard and charged at Phoenix. He seriously considered killing this man, but cutting off a single limb would suffice.

             Phoenix raised his staff swung it violently at Adam’s head. Adam’s charge was cut short by a smack to the head by the enormous ancient sigil atop the mage’s staff. His helmet fell off his head without the mask to hold it in place.

             “You could end this any time, Kananga!” Phoenix laughed. “But I know you won’t! I see the cowardice in those blue eyes!” The mage raised his hand and another cloud of poison smoke spewed from his palm. The entire battlefield was filled with the toxic smog.

             Adam dove to the ground to avoid the smoke. While he was down there, he picked up the top of his serpentine helmet and quickly put it back on, not that it was much use without the mask. Then he noticed the helmet’s mask that Rallis had ripped off his face. He would be able to breath in the smoke with this!

Adam was about to reattach the mask when he noticed Rallis on the ground. Rallis had gotten one of her arms free and was furiously tugging at the other. She was coughing with tears in her eyes. It seemed the smoke was affecting her very strongly.

              _Damnit…_ Adam cursed to himself.

             “Rallis!” Adam shouted over to the dragon.

             The dragon lady turned wearily to face him.

             Kananga threw the breathing mask over to her like a frisbee. Rallis caught it with her one free hand. She looked at it confused. She continued to cough.

             Adam held his hand over his mouth to mimic the action of putting the mask over his face.

             Rallis nodded and covered her nose with it. Using her tail to keep the mask in place, she shut her mouth tight and breathed through her nose. She gave him a thumbs up and continued clawing at the ice.

             Holding his breath, Adam stood up and ran outside the smoke cloud. He looked around frantically as he searched for there the mage had gone to. It was up to the caster of an ancient spell to keep it from hurting themselves or their friends. That was all part of the empty lord’s insistence on absolute control, if you were in control then you’d know how to avoid getting hurt by your own spells. He assumed Phoenix knew that as well as anyone. Using ancient magicks in combat was suicide if you didn’t know all the little details.

             Rallis scratched desperately at the ice that bound her arm. Her heart was racing and her eyes began to water from the poison smoke. The mask was slipping from her tail that pressed it against her snout. She had to stop clawing at the ice ever so often to put it back in place.

             Finally, Rallis managed to free her other hand from the ice. She stood up immediately. Whip in one hand, mask over her nose in the other, Rallis waded through the smoke, looking for her enemy. The only things she could hear were the pounding of her racing heart and the muffled sound of her own breath through the mask.

             Soon the smoke began to dissipate and the burden on her eyes lessened. Rallis saw the mage’s silhouette begin to appear in the dying smoke. It looked like he was having an equally difficult time navigating the cloud. Rallis didn’t hesitate. She lashed at the silhouette with her whip with all her might.

             Phoenix cried out in shock as the frozen whip cut into his back. He commanded the smoke to drop and it all disappeared in a violent snap. He turned around to face Rallis, raising his hand to cast another blood spell.

             Rallis shut her eyes as she braced herself for the spell.

             Suddenly and without warning, a crossbow bolt shot from behind Phoenix and lodged itself into his hand. The mage tried to cast the blood spell, but it didn’t work. “What?!” Phoenix shrieked. The tendons in his hand were severed. He couldn’t move it.

             “What’s the matter, Phoenix?” A familiar voice shouted from behind the incapacitated mage. “Have you lost absolute control over your hand? Guess those spells aren’t gonna work anymore, huh?” It was Kananga, he walked up and prodded Phoenix with his crossbow. “Give Rallis the staff.” He demanded into the mage’s ear. “It’s over now.”

             Rallis opened her eyes and saw the mage standing there with a horrified expression on his face.

             Phoenix cursed and did as he was told. He threw his staff to Rallis with his one good hand and watched as the dragon lady tossed it far away.

             Adam then kicked the defeated mage to the ground and unclipped a coil of rope from his belt. “Rallis, hold him down while I tie him.” He said.

             The dragon lady was happy to oblige. But first, she handed Adam back the mask for his helmet. It was in quite a state. She blushed apologetically.

             “Thanks…” Adam groaned as he took out his handkerchief and wiped it clean of dragon blood and snot before reattaching it to his helmet.


	2. New Friends

Rallis pointed her rapier at the hogtied mage’s heart and drew it back, ready to lunge.

Adam put his hand gently on her arm to stop her from killing the defeated man. “No need for that.” Adam sighed through his helmet. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Pouting, Rallis lowered her sword and kicked dust in the mage’s face. “He’s just going to kill more dragons if we let him live.”

Phoenix cursed while he coughed from the dust. “I’ll be back with a damn army!”

Adam ignored Rallis and kneeled next to the coughing mage. “And I’m sure the dragons will too. Don’t forget, you’re tied up in the middle of their territory!” Adam laughed as he searched the mage’s body.

“You’re sick!” Phoenix spat up at Adam. “I’m gonna kill you both some day!”

Searching the mage, Adam found a rune pouch and a small knife. “What’s a wizard without his runes?” He chuckled.

Rallis tilted her head and watched Adam stand up.

“Happy birthday!” Adam joked as he tossed the rune pouch to Rallis who caught it. Adam then looked back down at Phoenix.

The mage glared back up at the two of them.

“You know.” Adam said to the mage. “Rallis Fatalis has a point though, if we let you live, you’ll just kill more dragons. Or worse, you’ll follow us and throttle us in our sleep.” He smiled behind the mask of his helmet. “Lucky for you, I don’t like killing people. Especially not opponents I’ve already defeated.” Adam toyed with the mage’s knife. “I like giving the people I defeat a fighting chance, it’s just the way I am. This is the only blade you had on you. You could use it to cut the rope.”

The hogtied mage watched in silent horror from the ground as Adam raised the knife above his head and jammed it into the tree. The knife was far out of his reach.

“Dance, monkey!” Adam laughed.

The mage flipped and flopped around trying to squirm up the tree with his arms and legs bound behind his back. “You son of a bitch!” The mage grunted awkwardly as he dug his chin into the charred bark of the tree.

Rallis watched the once terrifying mage humiliate himself for his life. “Well that’s that I guess.” She said to Adam.

Adam turned back to Rallis. “He’s not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon. Come on, lets move out before more psychos like him show up.”

“You want me to come with you?” Rallis asked, her face went red.

“Of course, its dangerous to travel alone. Besides, I could use the company!” Adam panted, the adrenaline was wearing off. “The bandit camp’s not far from here, I’ll buy you a pizza.”

Rallis smiled and wagged her tail.

***

Fat Tony’s pizza place at the back of the bandit camp was hardly a home for fine cuisine. The rivers of fire that flanked the camp, the putrid smell of the local pond and the murderous gang that lived there left a lot to be desired in terms of hospitality. Despite it all, the little pizzeria managed to be somewhat pleasant when compared to anywhere else in the wilderness. Although even Adam would admit this likely had more to do with the general horribleness of the wilderness than with Fat Tony’s abilities as a restaurateur.

“I’m so happy you could visit me in my little shop Kananga!” Fat Tony said.

“Always happy to visit an old friend!” Adam smiled.

Fat Tony turned to Rallis and pointed at Adam. “I’ve known this man for years! Even before he became an adventurer!”

Rallis looked intrigued.

Adam shot Fat Tony a hash glare.

Tony didn’t get the message. He laughed. “Back when I first met this man, The Bull was a name feared throughout the Wilderness!”

“Who’s the Bull?” Rallis asked. She tilted her head, puzzled.

Adam interjected before Fat Tony could answer. “The Bull was a criminal, more than that, he was a psycho killer, the worst of the worst. A sick bastard who was only good at getting mad and killing people. He worked for a dangerous gang of outlaws based in the Wilderness. One day The Bull was betrayed by his fellow gang members. He got arrested down in Asgarnia shortly after. The son of a bitch died in prison.” He turned to Fat Tony. “And that’s the end of the story.”

Fat Tony smirked and nodded. “And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe the world is better off without the Bull.”

“Damn right…” Adam muttered as he ate a slice of pizza.

“And you were the one who took him down?” Rallis asked innocently.

“I guess you could say that.” Adam replied with a nod to Tony.

Fat Tony went back into the kitchen, laughing to himself.

“This is a bit of a long walk just for pizza!” Rallis said as she slurped another slice.

Adam chuckled. “Well, that’s not all I’m here for.”

Rallis’ eyes lit up. She leaned forward and her tail wagged. “Ooooh you’re on a mission? Is it for the guild? Is it treasure?”

Adam shook his sleepy head with a grin on his face. “It’s a personal mission.” He said.

The dragon lady listened intently.

There was a pause as Adam thought about whether or not he should let her in on his struggles. He never told anyone about the nightmares. Adam sighed. “To tell you the truth, Miss Fatalis…”

“You can call me Rallis!” She interjected.

“To tell you the truth, Rallis,” Adam motioned to the purple bags under his eyes. “…I haven’t slept well in over a week!”

An empathetic look came over Rallis’ face. “Have you tried warm milk?” She asked earnestly.

Adam smiled. “Well, getting to sleep isn’t the issue. It’s what happens when I’m asleep. I get nightmares, really bad ones, the kind that wake you up for the rest of the night and you can’t go back to bed.” He sighed and rubbed his temples. “I barely get an hour a night when I’m like this!”

Rallis’ ears lowered. “So what are you doing out here?”

“How much do you know about the Wilderness?” Adam asked in a hushed tone, leaning forward. “Do you know its history?”

Rallis thought about it. “Well… I know it used to be a nice place, but then Zamorak destroyed it during the God Wars. He turned it into the land of chaos using Guthix’s magic.”

Adam nodded and lowered his brow as he tried to decipher what Rallis meant in her explanation of the events. It wasn’t the way he would have put it, but it seemed to more or less match up with the official consensus among historians.

“And then the world cried out in pain causing Guthix to wake up and put an end to the god wars!” Rallis concluded.

“That’s the way the story goes.” Adam remarked with a smile. “But I’ve done a bit of research myself and I don’t think these lands were ever quite as peaceful as historians would have us believe.”

Rallis tilted her head, she looked confused.

“I believe the wilderness was always a land of chaos! Maybe it wasn’t always this fried but I don’t think it was ever any lost land of order, that whole legend might’ve just been some piece of gaslit Saradominist propaganda to further demonize the church’s enemies.” Adam explained. “Guthix created a perfect world, but in his eyes a perfect world would need to have balance. Chaos would need a home just as much as order. I believe these lands were that home.”

The dragon lady turned her head in deep thought. She said nothing.

“You know the Seers? Not the ones in Kandarin. I mean the old ones, the followers of V. The ones who are the ancestors of the Moon Clan!” Adam exclaimed.

Rallis nodded eagerly.

“They built the RuneCrafting temples in areas related to each temple’s respective element.” Continued Adam. His voice picked up in pace as his passion for history overpowered his tiredness. “The water temple is built in a swamp, the fire temple is in a desert, the nature temple is in a jungle! I think the reason they did this was because the terrain is strong in their element, they must amplify the power of the altars or something! And then that leaves the chaos temple, why would they build it here in the Wilderness? Unless the province already had a chaotic essence to it!” He concluded with an excited smile.

Rallis thought for a moment. “But wait, what if it’s the other way around!” She asked him. “Maybe the temples release that energy into the area around them.”

Adam scratched at his beard. “Yeah, I’ve thought about that. It’s possible that both are true, that they sort of feed each other until they reach some kind of equilibrium. That’d be an interesting experiment! Either way, those temples were built thousands of years before the explosion at the end of the god wars. That still leaves the wilderness as a land of chaos well before it supposedly went bad.”

“But what does any of this have to do with your nightmares?” Rallis asked with lowered ears.

Adam grinned. “That brings me to my third reason for believing this place was always evil.” He pulled out his notebook and flipped through the pages.

Rallis leaned forward and squinted as she tried to look at the tiny words and pictures.

“Throughout human history, there’s been stories of a terrifying Beast made of pure chaos and madness which roamed these lands. Rallis, these stories go back to the First Age! It can teleport its prey, disarm them, create illusions, anything! This thing has the power to warp reality however it wants! It’s very existence is a fucking middle finger to any sense of order in the world, and the Wilderness is its home!” He found the page he was looking for and slide the notebook over to Rallis. “Rallis…” Adam continued. “I believe this Beast is the source of the chaos in these lands! All my nightmares end with this thing or some variation of it looming over me. I’m gonna hunt it down and kill it, once and for all.”

The dragon studied the notebook. Crude drawings showcasing the many forms the Beast was known to take spanned the two pages of the open book. All the drawings featured dark clouds, lightning, tentacles or some combination of the three. “I’ve seen this thing…” Rallis muttered.

Adam nearly pounded the table. “What!?” He blurted. “Where?”

Rallis narrowed her eyes as she tried to remember. “Really far north. Past the fence, over by the rogue’s castle!” She said.

“Hmm…” Adam thought as he pocketed the notebook. “I’ve never gone that way. That explains why I’ve never seen it before.” He held Rallis’ hand in his. “Rallis…” He said. “Will you take me there?”

Rallis smiled and nodded excitedly. “Of course!”

“Excellent! You have no idea how much this means to me. I’ll pay the bill and we can get going!”

***

The two of them marched through the barren wasteland together. Rallis was in front, practically skipping while Adam trudged behind. Despite it being the land of chaos, much of the wilderness was rather bland. There was hardly anything of interest to look at out there and what little there was would be few and far between along the desolate province. It was as if the land itself was attempting to lull unsuspecting travelers into a glaze to make them easy targets for the murderers who lurked in the shadows. Adam shuddered. In his current state, he’d have been a dead man wandering this deep into the wilderness without Rallis with him. Just following her and watching as she joyfully skipped along the forsaken plains put his heart at ease, just a little bit, even after he had seen her rip a man’s throat out only a few hours ago. Adam yawned, he needed to sleep.

Rallis began to shiver. “I forgot how cold it could get up here. I thought we were moving away from the mountains!”

Adam stopped. “We are. We’re heading east, I hope.” He replied. “It must be getting late.” The dark clouds over the wilderness obscured the sun’s light. The only way to tell day from night in these lands was the drop in temperature between the two.

The shivering dragon lady’s ears lowered. “I’m really sorry, but I need to find someplace warm, quickly. There’s a lava flow a short walk south of here. Can we rest there for a bit?”

Adam thought about it and shook his head. He didn’t want to waste time out here in the wilderness, but he also didn’t want to abandon Rallis. Either way, the lava maze was not a good place to rest. “It’s too dangerous over there, there’s demons and bears down that way.” He took off his coat. “Here, wear this for now. I’ll get a fire going.”

Rallis took the large, thick jacket and wrapped herself in it like a cloak.

Adam smiled behind the mask of his helmet and nodded. “How’s that?”

The dragon lady shut her eyes as she snuggled inside the fur lined coat. “So cozy!” She replied with a smile. “Thank you!” She opened her eyes and looked at the green man in front of her who now had only a t shirt. “Are you gonna be okay though?” She asked.

“I’ll be fine.” Said Adam. “That’s one way to wake up! You just rest there and I’ll light a fire.” He unhooked an axe from his backpack.

***

Before long, Rallis sitting by a crackling fire across from Kananga. Kananga took his helmet off and set it beside him as he lit up a cigar. Rallis watched as Kananga turned to his backpack and pulled out a kettle along with a set of teabags. “You want any?” He asked as he filled the kettle with water from his canteen.

Rallis’ ears perked up from the collar of the large coat. “You bring tea with you?” She asked. Her head cocked excitedly like a curious lizard. “I’d LOVE some!”

Kananga laughed. “Not all the time. But it’s the only thing that keeps me from slipping into a coma these days.” He placed the kettle on a little rack he had set up over the fire.

Soon, the kettle came to a boil and Kananga picked it up by the handle using a set of tongs and a cloth. After preparing the tea, Kananga unhooked a small strap on his backpack revealing a tiny teacup and saucer. He poured some hot tea into the cup and handed it to Rallis. “There you go, it’s not a big cup but we’ve got a lot of tea. Tell me if you want a refill!”

“Thank you!” Rallis said in a singsong sort of way. She smiled at him and spilled from the little cup.

“Now…” Kananga said to himself as he rummaged through his backpack. “I thought I brought a second cup somewhere in here…” He chuckled to himself behind the toothy grin that held the cigar in his mouth. Kananga pulled a green thermos out from his backpack. The thermos had a lid that doubled as a cup. “Here we are!” He said with a smile.

“That’s Elena’s tea flask!” Rallis exclaimed. “How’d you get that?”

“Oh, you know her too?” Kananga asked with a smile in his eyes as he poured his tea. “We used to date.”

Rallis went red and lowered her ears. Small world, she thought to herself as her heart somewhat sank.

“I broke things off about a year ago.” Kananga said. He took the cigar out of his mouth and sipped his tea. “I needed some time alone after the shit I went through in the pass under the mountains. Never got a chance to return the tea flask.”

“So that was you who found the well of voyage!” Rallis said with a newfound intrigue.

“Guess you didn’t know we were colleagues this whole time did you?” Kananga asked with a grin. Then his face went serious with concern. “I… heard about what happed with mourners.” He said while gesturing around his neck with his hand.

Rallis took a deep breath and tugged at her scarf once she realized what he was referring to. How could he know something like that?

“No, no that’s okay, you don’t have to show me.” Kananga said calmly. “I did my own investigating into the plague after I was tasked with disposing of some supposedly plague bearing sheep and ended up down the same rabbit hole as you. That’s where I met Elena.” He yawned while he put his helmet back on and lay onto his back. “She had a lot of good things to say about you! I couldn’t wait to finally meet you, Rallis.”

Rallis blushed and buried her face in the coat. She stared into the fire for a while, saying nothing. She felt if she said anything too soon he’d notice her gushing. She yawned. “Are you asleep?” She asked the man. She couldn’t see his eyes through the serpentine helmet’s visor.

“Nah.” Kananga replied. “There’s no point…” He yawned. “Damn nightmares…”

Rallis narrowed her eyes as she watched Kananga on the ground. She was skeptical that he wasn’t going to sleep. “Okay, well, I’ll keep watch anyway.”

“Do what you want.” Kananga replied sleepily.

The dragon sat for a while, she started getting antsy. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yep!” A yawning but friendly voice replied.

“What’s your name?” Rallis asked earnestly.

“Kananga…” He said in the usual muffled voice through the respirator of his mask.

Rallis shook her head. “No… you’re real name. I’m not a Fatalis and you’re not a… whatever a Kananga is.”

Kananga snickered through the respirator. “It means peacemaker. My real name, I guess you could say, is Adam Neeson, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have no family to make proud. I’ve got nobody’s torch to bare or burn except my own. All I have is what I am, and I’m Green Kananga the Legend.”

Rallis lowered her ears and tucked her knees into her chest. “Adam, can I ask you something else?”

“Anything.” Adam replied.

“I heard Phoenix saying you don’t shoot to kill. Why?” Rallis asked. “I’ve been in situations all the time where that was the only option. Don’t you worry about the harm they’re gonna cause if you don’t kill them?”

Adam gave a sleepy sigh. “I don’t think I have the right to decide who deserves to be killed. Whenever I’m put in a situation where I might have to fight to the death, all I can think about is the fact that this is a living, breathing person. That they were a baby once, and then a child, they probably had a family or maybe still do. They probably have interests, hobbies, been in love, worked hard on things, laughed. And then here I am snuffing all that out before their time, ending the story by ripping the pages out. I don’t like thinking about it that way, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. I didn’t care when I was younger, but now, no, that’s all I think about. I love fighting, it’s an art if you ask me, but I don’t wanna kill anyone anymore. There’s always another way, Rallis”

Rallis’ blue cheeks went red again. “Are you mad that I killed those hunters back there? Or that I thought you were one of them and tried to kill you?” She asked him bashfully, slightly embarrassed.

There was a pause as Adam formulated a response. Rallis rested her head on her knees and waited.

“Of course not, I know why you did what you did and I also know that it’s not something you normally do if you don’t have to. I don’t hold it against you.” Adam yawned. “Learn from the past but don’t live in it. Keep your mind in the present to make a better future.” He whispered sleepily.

“I like that.” Rallis said to Adam. “What’s it from?”

“That’s Saradomin.” Adam said with pride.

Ralls narrowed her eyes at the mention of the god.

The two of them said nothing for a while. Rallis looked up at the sky. The usual mean looking clouds filled the sky where there should have been stars. The clouds rumbled from above all the time, but it never rained out here in the Wilderness. The angry storm only brewed and brewed with the occasional lightning strike, just as it had done for thousands of years. Rallis found something nostalgic about sitting out here in the Wilderness, she couldn’t put her finger on why though. She sat quietly, looking up at the clouds. Any one of those clouds could have been the Chaos Elemental watching them. The thought made her shiver. “Adam?” She asked.

No response. The man was fast asleep on his back. She hadn’t the heart to wake him.

Rallis lowered her ears as she sat alone in the deep Wilderness. She guessed that meant she was on watch.


	3. Nightmares, Reunions and Beasts

Adam woke up on his back, half sunken into the floor of a swamp. “What the fuck?” He muttered. “How’d I get here?” He pulled himself up and looked around. His helmet was missing and the back of his head was caked in mud. Adam’s bangs fell over his brow. He combed it back with a muddy hand. It was still dark out and he was alone. “Rallis?” He called. “Are you there?” Adam whipped his arms to shake off the mud and water that clung to his jacket.

There was no answer except for a slight rumble from the darkness. Adam squinted. There were salamanders and lizards resting on the trees, flowers and mushrooms all around. All their eyes were on him. They watched alien in their habitat closely or perhaps they were welcoming him home. “Rallis? Are you there?”

Adam waded through the mud toward a large tree with low branches that he would be able to climb to avoid the mud. When he reached the tree, Adam put his hand on a strange mushroom to see if it was sturdy. The mushroom immediately dissolved into hundreds of tiny spiders. The spiders crawled along Adam’s arm.

Adam shrieked and fell backward into the mud with a heavy splash. The spiders were still crawling all over him. He tried to shake them off but it was no good. They started crawling down the sleeves of his jacket and into his ears. Adam wanted to get up from the mud but he was stuck. He screamed in animalistic horror as the spiders crawled into his ears, nose and eye sockets. Then, in an instant, they were gone.

Adam stepped out from the mud. For some reason, it no longer pulled him down. There was a rumble in the distance. Then there was silence. Adam listened close. There was another rumble, followed by a muffled scream, then silence. Adam stepped forward into the darkness.

Suddenly and without warning an enormous monster charged toward him from the darkness ahead. It was a lizardman shaman! It roared as it barrelled toward him like a rhinoceros, smashing tree branches and tearing through vines as it went.

A tingling feeling ran through Adam’s arms. Acting on pure instinct, Adam drew his blade and dove out of the creature’s way. He sliced at the lizardman’s muscular leg as the beast charged passed him.

The enormous lizardman shaman howled in pain and collapsed as the dragon sword severed its lower leg. Slime, water and mud splashed everywhere as the massive creature hit the ground of the swamp hard like a felled tree. Adam immediately jumped on top of the lizardman and stabbed it in the back of the neck, killing it instantly before it could pick itself up. The creature’s dead body began to slowly sink into the swamp. Adam smirked and sheathed his blade.

There was a rustling in the swamp ahead. All the salamanders that had been watching him quickly scurried off into the darkness. Then a voice came from the dark path ahead where the lizardman shaman had charged from. “You there! Stay where you are, beast!”

The branches and vines that were destroyed by the charging lizardman seemed to have regrown and a lone Shayzien soldier climbed through the brush.

Adam stepped back. He said nothing.

“Oh my god!” The soldier shouted. He turned his head behind him. “That green thing just killed Bruce and Helga!”

“What?” Adam stepped back again. He nearly tripped on the sinking body behind him. Adam looked down and gasped. There was no lizardman anymore. Instead, the bodies of two Shayzien soldiers lay at his feet. A man and a woman. Both of them were stabbed through the heart. Something began tingling in his arms and chest. He looked back up at the Shayzien who accused him. “I didn’t do this!” Adam shouted. “There was a shaman! Didn’t you see it?” Adam started twitching.

“You son of a bitch, they had a kid at home!” The soldier screamed. He drew his blade and charged at Adam.

The Bull lunged his blade forward and stabbed the charging soldier in the head before the man could do as much as swing his blade at him. After pulling back his sword, he watched with a bloodthirsty satisfaction as the lifeless Shayzien soldier fell backwards into the mud. The Bull tore off his jacket and shirt and pounded his chest. His whole body was tingling.

More Shayzien warriors charged from the darkness ahead in a wave of red and black. Hundreds of spiders raced through the Bull’s veins. They were making him strong! He roared and clashed against the charging army. With his great burning strength, he sliced through even the thickest Shayzien armour like it was nothing. He stabbed them, cut off their heads, broke their necks and worse in a whirlwind of blood and violence.

Soon, it was over. All the Shayzien soldiers were dead. It had started to rain. The night was pitch black but the Bull could tell by the taste that it was raining blood. The blood dripped off his hair and down through his beard. The Bull stared up into the cloudy swamp sky and laughed maniacally until he started to choke. He coughed into his hand. His fist was full of spiders. The Bull shook his gloved hand to get them off. Then he threw up. Thousands and thousands of tiny spiders spewed from his mouth, nose and eyes.

Adam collapsed into the mud. “Fuck…” He sobbed. Adam turned over one of the Shayzien soldiers, there was a stab wound through their heart. Kneeling in the mud with a lit cigar in his mouth as it continued to rain blood from the sky, Adam pulled the Shayzien soldier’s mask off to give it a prayer. The Shayzien’s face made him nearly gag on his smoke. It was a woman with blue eyes… And green skin! He looked around, frantically pulling the masks off all the dead soldiers. All the Shayzien had green skin. He looked down at his arms and bare chest. His skin was blood red, stained from the rain.

Adam looked back up. A hoard of lizardmen had gathered around him while he was preocupied. They growled at him. Adam reached for his sword to defend himself.

Before Adam could do anything. One of the lizardmen was struck by lightning. Adam could hear it squeal in agony through the deafening sound of thunder. Another lizardman was struck, then another, and another. Adam turned his head back and forth as lizardman after lizardman was struck dead by lightning. Their horrified squeals were only barely drowned out by the crash of the thunder. Once all the lizardmen were dead, the lightning began to strike the trees all around him. Adam stood up and gagged on a dark cloud of smoke and floated above the mud. He threw away his cigar.

The whole swamp was on fire. He had to get out of here. Adam coughed and started to run but something shot out of the mud of the swamp and grabbed his leg. It was a purple tentacle, it pulled him down. Then another tentacle grabbed him by the neck and yanked him down into the mud of the swamp. He started slowly sinking.

A voice spoke to him. The voice was fast and seemed to swap between several voices in every word.

iTs WhAt YoU aRe. tHeN iS NoWowWOWOWoOOW. pAsT iS pReSeNt FuTuRe Is NEVERReReRR!!

mUrDeReR aLwAyS aNd fOrEvErrRrrrr. wOnT lEt YoU dIEEEEE yEt sO i kILL YoU. fIgHt AlOnE. nOoNe eLsE!

A thick grey fog grew over Adam. He pulled at the tentacles to no avail.

pAiN nEvEeEeERRRReReR sToPs

LiKe tHiSsSs fOrEveR!

bUll NoT bRoKeN!

cHaOs Is PeRfEcT!!!

The tentacles wrapped around Adam ignited. Within seconds, Adam caught fire as well. He hollered in agony while his skin blistered and his blood boiled.

CuNt.

***

Adam’s eyes snapped open as he woke up for real. “Damn it! Fuck!” He screamed. Adam tried to stand up but couldn’t, his arms and legs were pinned. He shouted and cursed and attempted to wriggle himself free. Almost immediately, whatever was pinning him down let go of him and Adam jumped to freedom. He fell to his knees and panted. Then he turned around to see what had been holding him down.

An enormous black dragon was staring back at him. It smiled.

“Rallis…” Adam was so out of breath from panic he could barely get a sentence out. “What is that?”

Rallis was sleeping on top of the massive creature, all rolled up like a dog on the end of a bed. She raised her head and blinked sleepily. “It’s Rajaion!” She answered, still waking up. “You were shivering and squirming a lot in your sleep so I called him down to help put you at ease. Did you have another one of those nightmares?”

“Yeah! I did!” Not wanting to sound mad, he really wasn’t, just surprized and still shaken from the nightmare, Adam chuckled. “How long was I out for, Rallis?”

Rajaion growled something at Rallis.

“All night, it seems!” Rallis translated. “How do you feel?”

All night… and I only had a bad dream at the end? Adam thought to himself, what did he do different this time? “I don’t feel half bad!” He laughed. “A little shaken but damn I needed that!”

Rallis slid down the dragon’s side and ran over to Adam and hugged him tight. “I’m so happy to hear that!” She exclaimed. “Do you still want to kill the Chaos Elemental?”

“You bet your ass I do! And now that my strength’s back, you’ll get to see what I can really do!” Adam laughed with his hands on his hips. “Onward to rogue’s castle!”

The dragon lady clapped excitedly.

They waved goodbye to the black dragon and headed off on their way.

***

Adam dragged his feet through the endless plains of the wilderness. Rallis was on his shoulders pointing the way. Adam didn’t know how he wound up agreeing to that, but here he was. He carried her as he walked north from the Lava Maze, past the fence, into the northern end of wilderness and well on their way to the rogue’s castle. If there was anywhere they were going to run into trouble, this was it. He walked beside the mouth of a long canyon, heading east. The mouth to the canyon was a slope of dusty, chalky stone that grew steeper further down. Looking down into the canyon, Adam swore he could see things moving around inside the many burrows and holes that lined the canyon walls. He prayed he wouldn’t have to find out what lived down there.

“Wait!” Rallis hollered as she tapped on Adam’s helmet. “Look! In the distance! Rogue’s castle dead ahead!”

Picking the squirming dragon up off his shoulders, Adam looked onward. He could see the castle in the distance. “So that’s rogue’s castle, eh?”

Rallis nodded. “Yep! The Chaos Elemental should be anywhere around here!”

Adam drew his crossbow. “Well in that case we best be on guard. I’ve read there’s wolves and scorpions in these parts too. Keep an eye out!”

Rallis lead the way. “The scorpions only hang around the bottom of the canyon and the wolves are to the north. We should be safe on this side!”

Adam nodded, trusting her judgement. It was the best he could do given his little knowledge on this area.

The two of them crept further west toward the rogue’s castle. All the while they kept their eyes and ears open for any sign of the Beast.

Suddenly, Rallis heard a noise and nearly jumped. “I hear something!” She whispered in a startled tone.

“What!?” Adam whispered back.

“We’ve gotta hide! There’s a lot of them!” Hissed Rallis as she grabbed Adam’s hand and pulled him down into the canyon with her.

“What? Who? Where?” Adam blurted out as he slid harshly down the chalky dust of the canyon.

Rallis caught him with her tail before he slid too far. Her claws dug deep into the slope of the canyon. “Be quiet!” She hissed at him as she pointed to the south west. “It’s him again! I knew we should have just killed him! I hope he didn’t hurt any more of my friends!” She growled.

Adam slammed a crossbow bolt into the chalky slope to keep him from slipping. He squinted behind the visor of his helmet while he looked where Rallis was pointing. Sure enough, there was Dark Pheonix, walking in their direction. His arm was wrapped in a cast. “Guess you still can’t heal yourself you fuckin’ leech…” Adam muttered.

Pheonix was not alone, he was flanked by a dozen or so rogues armed with crossbows along with the typical light armour.

“Coming back from another hunt no doubt!” Rallis spit.

Adam shook his head. “If they are it doesn’t seem like they had much luck.” He said, noticing that they weren’t carrying any dragon bones or skins. “Shit, they’re almost here!”

The two of them ducked their heads.

“I expect to be properly paid, Cochrine!” An unfamiliar voice snapped. “Despite the unfortunate outcome.”

Pheonix growled. “The contract is void!” He snapped. “Your men failed to meet their end of the bargain. I owe you nothing!”

“This is dangerous work! You knew the risk and now you pay the cost of failure! Just as they did.”

“Pah! Do you know who you’re dealing with?! All I have to do is raise my hand and I can bring the wrath of the Mahjarrat upon you all!”

The unfamiliar voice grumbled. “This conversation is not over, Cochrine!”

“You’ll have your payment once your men have displayed that their service is worth more than the runes it would cost to kill you!”

Adam smirked as he listened to the mage’s empty threats. I gotta say, Phoenix, I dunno how you managed to escape those bindings, but my hat’s off to you now. Adam thought to himself as the group drew nearer. Hope those rogues don’t call your bluff though, partner!

Rallis and Adam ducked deeper into the canyon as the mage and rogues passed by them.

The chalky stone began to crumble. The crossbow bolt Adam had stuck into the ground became dislodged and Adam started slipping down into the canyon. “Shit!” Adam snorted. He was tempted to try and fight the slope but it would only kick up dust and make noise.

Adam slid down the canyon. The further down he went, the steeper it got. His attempt to keep quiet was in vain. The sound of him sliding all the way down the slope echoed through the canyon until he hit the bottom. Adam looked back up at Rallis who had her hand over her mouth in horror. There were strange scraping sounds coming from all around. The canyon was filled with giant scorpions! They crawled all around the inside of the canyon and out from holes in the canyon walls. The scorpions surrounded Adam and raised their stingers to attack. Adam reached for his sword.

Suddenly, the sound of clicking crossbows echoed through the canyon and all the scorpions that surrounded Adam were shot dead. The remaining scorpions squealed in fright and ran back into their burrows. Adam looked up at his saviour. Phoenix stared down at him flanked by a dozen rogues who were pointing their crossbows at Adam. Rallis stood beside Phoenix with her hands above her head.

“Dark Phoenix!” Adam shouted. “I’m in your debt, friend!”

“Get up here before I have them shoot you!” Phoenix shouted back. “I’d hate if you died before I got to see the fear in those faggy blue eyes of yours!”

“I have the whole visor on now!” Adam shouted up at Phoenix. He pointed and waved his hand over the mask of his serpentine helmet. “You won’t be able to see them anyway!”

“Get up here right now!”

The rogue’s threw him a rope.

Adam cursed as he carefully made his way up the side of the canyon.

At the top of the canyon, Adam was met with a crossbow. Phoenix ripped Adam’s helmet off his head and threw it to the ground. Two rogues then took away his sword, shield and crossbow.

“What the fuck is that thing?” A high-ranking rogue shouted at Phoenix, poking Rallis in the back with his crossbow.

Phoenix chuckled evilly. “That’s the monster that killed your men!” He replied. “You want your payment? There you go!”

Three of the rogues looked down the sights of their crossbows, ready to fire.

Rallis gulped as she looked around for a way out of this. She looked at Adam for some reassuring gesture or sign of a plan.

“It’s here…” Adam muttered in a trance. “It’s watching us. Rallis, don’t move.” Adam was staring back at the mouth of the canyon with a horrified look on his face. He began to twitch. Rallis had no idea what Adam was talking about. She sure hoped Adam’s inaction right now was part of some kind of plan.

Suddenly, Phoenix stepped forward. He motioned for the men to lower their crossbows. “Hold on a second…” Phoenix pointed to Rallis’ tunic. “That’s third age, isn’t it?”

Rallis nodded shyly.

Phoenix smirked. “Try not to get blood on that outfit, boys. It’s worth more than all your lives combined!” He motioned for the men to fire on Adam and Rallis.

“It wants to fight me…” Adam muttered. His mind was clearly gone far from the moment. “It says don’t move. I don’t trust it but I can’t disobey…”

Rallis, acting on pure draconic survival instinct, shut her eyes tight and pounced toward the nearest rogue.

“Shit!” Phoenix cursed. “Shoot! Fire! Kill them!”

But nothing happened.

“Hey what the fuck?!” One of the rogue’s shouted. “Where’d my weapon go?”

“What the hell kinda magic is this?”

“Cochrine! What’s going on?”

Rallis opened her eyes one after the other. All the rogues’ weapons were gone. She unwrapped her claws from around a rogue’s neck.

Adam lowered his hands in the confusion and launched himself at Phoenix, knocking him to the ground and pinning him with his legs. He put his helmet back on and he picked up his crossbow. He aimed the crossbow at the mouth of the canyon.

Everyone turned to face the canyon and watched in horror as a set of tentacles began rising out of it. Then more tentacles emerged. Then more and more. Finally, a massive dark cloud rose from the mouth of the canyon. It looked like a living storm. It’s many tentacles flailed about in a terrifying manner. The cloud continued to rise high above the group before stopping to gaze upon the panicked souls of its prey. The Chaos Elemental in all its insanity hovered before them. 

“It’s the Beast!” A terrified rogue shouted. 

Adam said nothing, he simply pointed his crossbow at the monster with a screaming Dark Phoenix’s head trapped under his knee. It was just as it had appeared in so many of his nightmares. His jaw dropped.

The Chaos Elemental had no eyes, but Adam could tell it was staring right back at him.

Some of the rogue’s started to flee. But it was no good, every single one of them was struck dead by lightning from the living storm until only Adam, Rallis and Phoenix remained.

With Adam distracted. Phoenix wriggled his good arm free of Adam’s lock and grabbed the knife at his belt. Phoenix stabbed at Adam’s leg with all his strength.

Adam cursed and fell over. The angle was awkward so the cut wasn’t deep, but it was unexpected and it hurt like hell. Adam remained on the ground, trying to keep himself together under the gaze of the Beast from his nightmares.

Phoenix got up and looked up at the Chaos Elemental, his knife was drawn in a defensive stance.

The three of them were frozen in both wonder and horror as the living embodiment of chaos on Gielinor hovered above them.

A deafening crash of thunder pounded from the Beast and lights of all colours sparked from inside the cloud.

“OnLy HiMiMiMmim!” The Beast demanded. “tHe BuLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“What the fuck?!” Phoenix shouted up at the Beast. “The Bull is dead! The son of a bitch rotted in prison!”

Adam stumbled to his feet, leaning on his one good leg, still pointing his crossbow at the Beast.

Rallis picked up her whip rapier and ran to be beside Adam.

“gO aWaYyYyaY!!” The Chaos Elemental cried as it flicked a tentacle in Rallis’ direction.

Rallis cried out as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“No!” Adam shouted. “What’d you do to her?!”

“aWaY!!!!!! hEr sAfEtY iN hEr OwN hAnDs!”

Adam and Phoenix exchanged nervous glances in a brief moment of connection fueled by mutual fear.

The Chaos Elemental then turned to Phoenix. “tHe bUll KiLLeD yOuR fAtHeR, yEs?”

Phoenix stepped back. “Yes… he did! How did you know? Why do you care?!” He barked at the Chaos Elemental.

“yOu sTaNd BeSiDe tHe BuLL nOw! aRe YoU AmAzEd?”

Phoenix turned look at Adam. A look of pure hatred was on Phoenix’ face as he pointed at Adam with his knife. “You! You’re the Bull?!” He cried incredulously. “You son of a BITCH! I heard you died in prison!” Phoenix shouted as he ran at Adam with the knife in his one good arm.

“rEvElAtIoN cOmPlEtE, DiE nOw.” The Chaos Elemental remarked as it flicked a tentacle in Phoenix’s direction.

In an instant, Phoenix shot up in flames. He stopped dead in his tracks and dropped the knife. The cry of sheer anger and horror from the mage was inhuman. Adam averted his eyes as the burning man stumbled about in his melting skin and blistering bones. Pillars of yellow fire shot out from Dark Phoenix’s eyes before his entire body blew up in an explosion of fire and blood.

Adam panted and simply gazed upon the pile of flaming guts and cinders where the Legend had once stood. His mouth stood ajar behind his helmet. He turned back to the Chaos Elemental. He was finally alone with the Beast now.

“wHy dO yOu WaNt…. mE?” The Beast asked with the closest thing it could do to a laugh. It seemed to already know the answer.

“I’ve come to put an end to the nightmares!” Adam declared as boldly as he could. His voice cracked. Now was not the time for his nerves to be failing him! He grunted from the pain in his bleeding leg. The blood from the stab wound was starting to drip into his boot.

“tHeY dOn’T sToP!!!!!” The Chaos Elemental shouted down at him. “tHe BaD dReAmS WiLL nEvEr StOp!!! tHe BuLL wAnTs OuUuUuT!”

“I’m not the Bull!” Adam snapped as he shot a crossbow bolt at the Chaos Elemental.

The bolt shot right through the cloud to no effect. The Beast’s many tentacles swung wildly to mock the attempt. “uSeLeSs!” The Chaos Elemental scoffed. The living storm flicked one of its many tentacles in Adam’s direction. Some kind of magical projectile came flying at Adam from the tip of the tentacle.

Adam threw himself out of the spell’s way. He didn’t know what the spell would do but after the last two times the Beast displayed its magical ability, he wasn’t prepared to find out.

The spell hit the ground beside Adam and exploded in a cloud of dust and chalk. Adam looked back up at the Chaos Elemental. Another spell was coming his way. He dodged it by rolling to the side. Adam panted in agony as he continued to dodge the Beast’s magic. His leg was bleeding badly, what started as a small wound had grown into a serious problem with all this abuse. Adam jumped out of the way of another spell. He cursed, he couldn’t keep this up.

The Chaos Elemental threw another spell at him. Adam couldn’t bring himself to jump again. Staying on one knee, Adam raised his jogre crested shield in a last-ditch effort to save himself. The spell exploded against Adam’s shield which sent the man flying backward several feet. He landed hard on his back and smacked his head against the ground. Adam lay there for a moment in shock from the impact of it all. He couldn’t feel his wounded leg anymore, his head hurt and his ears rang, but he was still alive.

The Chaos Elemental waved its tentacles and tiny sparks flashed from within its storm-like body. “tHe BuLL hAs FaLLeN!” It preached.

Adam watched from the ground as The Beast began to lower itself to him. Grunting and cursing in pain, he got back on his feet to face the monster. “The Bull is DEAD!” Adam snapped.

The dark, sparking cloud of the Chaos Elemental began to change in shape. “No, he’ll never die…” A frighteningly familiar voice came from the cloud in place of the Beast’s usual chaotic garble. “He’s you…” The cloud solidified into the shape of a person. “And he’s me.” The voice concluded. The person was holding a kiteshield over his face, obscuring it from Adam’s view.

Adam took a step back. That was HIS voice! He nearly stumbled backward as soon as he recognized the crest on man’s shield. “No…” He muttered.

The man in front of him lowered the shield, revealing his face. He had green skin and blue eyes with black hair, just like Adam. In fact, he looked just like a younger version of him. The man scowled at Adam. He tilted his head to reveal the familiar scar on his stubbled jawline. It was the Bull, or at least a spitting image of him!

The two of them just stared at each other. The Bull clearly knew that simply being there in front of Adam was bringing him a great deal of pain. They continued to stare each other down, the Bull never blinked once. He raised his shield. “You remember this crest?” He barked out of the corner of his mouth. “The McCleods! You were their best man!” He laughed.

The crest on the Bull’s shield was that of his old gang. It depicted an ox with a ring in its nose. Adam narrowed his eyes. “I remember The McCleods betrayed you! Once you got too important, they wanted you out of the picture. You were nothing to them! They were the ones who tried to have you killed and then tipped off the police when you got away!”

“You lying sack of shit!”

“They were the only ones who knew were you were gonna be!” Adam drew his sword and raised his shield in front of him. He displayed the Jogre crest proudly. “Besides, I think I like this one a lot more! The Legendary Green Kananga, peacemaker and diplomat known and respected the world over! My name comes from making the world a better place. What does yours come from?”

The Bull growled with fury and charged at Adam. Their swords clashed.


	4. The Battle With The Bull

The Bull swung his sword at Adam’s head with all his might. His long hair raised from the motion.

Adam parried the attack, but was nearly taken off balance due to the pain in his bleeding, throbbing leg. He grunted and he stood his ground nonetheless. Adam smirked as he thought about Phoenix. The empty lord wasn’t the only god who taught his followers to fight through the pain. He bravely struck back at the Bull. The strike was clumsily blocked by the Bull’s shield.

Adam’s enemy was strong but his skills with a sword and shield were sloppy. Adam had the advantage in terms of skill and strategy. However, a fight against such a random and uncivilized opponent left little opportunity to think that way.

The Bull launched a whirlwind of strikes at Adam. Each one targeted his head, his neck or his heart. Against an untrained opponent, a fight like this would hardly last seconds. Adam just barely had enough time to block each attack, let alone land any hits of his own. The Bull was overwhelming him more and more with every swing of his sword.

The Bull was growing visibly annoyed by the fact that Adam was deflecting his attacks. Under the impression that his repeated onslaught wasn’t getting him anywhere. The furious Bull jumped backward, tossed his sword and shield away and threw himself at Adam.

Naturally, Adam slashed at charging man.

The Bull caught the sword in his hand by the blade and gripped it tight. Blood began dripping from his palm. The Bull scowled. He was seemingly unfazed by any sort of pain, assuming he felt any. The Bull ripped the sword out from Adam’s hand and tore his shield off the straps.

Adam’s gasped as he stared into the Bull’s unblinking eyes and saw nothing but barbaric hatred and bloodlust. Then he was punched in the face. The punch was dampened by the serpentine helmet but there was so much force that Adam fell on his back. His head hit hard against the ground.

The scarred, stubbled Bull loomed over Adam. His long hair fell over his face like a phantom. “I own you!” He snapped. “You understand that?”

Adam was winded and lightheaded. Not thinking clearly, he began to get up.

The Bull kicked Adam in the head and he fell back down. “I own your fucking soul you shit eating pig!” He stomped down on his chest. “You are NOTHING without me!” He stomped again.

Adam wheezed as blood spewed from his mouth and nose. He was drowning from behind his mask.

“Every time you call on Saradomin for strength you’re calling on me!” The Bull shouted in one last kick before he knelt down beside Adam and removed Adam’s helmet. “You can’t stop the nightmares.”

Adam saw the Bull reach for a knife on his belt. The Bull then brought the knife to Adam’s throat. Adam raised a weak hand to try and stop him. But it was no good.

“The dreams were your mortal soul telling you that you miss the killing! You miss this chaos! You miss me!” The Bull proclaimed. “This is what you were. What you could’ve kept on being.” He said with a smirk as he put a hand, foppishly on his chest. “And he just defeated what you are now!”

“NO!” Adam coughed. He was on the verge of passing out. Adam’s eyes flickered. His free arm fell into the dust covered ground. The sensation gave him an idea, it filled his heart with hope.

Adam gave the Bull a confident grin. “I’m not the Bull, and neither are you!” He shouted as he took a handful of the chalky dust from the ground and threw it into the Bull’s eyes.

The Bull didn’t even try to blink or shield his eyes and took the full effect of the dust. He cursed and fell back, dropping the knife.

Adam quickly got up from under the Bull while he was distracted. “The Bull is dead!”

“cHeAtEr!” The Bull shouted and charged at Adam with watering eyes and flying fists.

The Bull kicked and headbutted like a minotaur, living up to his name. Adam was sure he had fought tougher opponents before, but he couldn’t exactly recall their names at that moment.

Adam’s leg still hurt badly, but so did his whole body at this point. The pain, along with the pure sensory overload from fighting the Bull was beginning to piss him off. His muscles began to tingle. He could feel hundreds of little things crawling through his veins. Adam grabbed the Bull’s shirt and collar with one hand and pulled him close, throwing the Bull off balance. Adam then sent the strongest punch he could muster directly at the Bull’s face. Then he sent another, and another.

The Bull spat a wad of blood and spit out from the side of his mouth. “That’s it, those are the punches your enemies remember! uSe ThE cHaOs!” The Bull then pulled himself free of Adam’s grip, ripping his shirt in the process. Blood and sweat dropped onto the Bull massive chest. The Bull then delivered a roundhouse kick to Adam’s head.

The kick sent Adam flying backward. He got up almost immediately and charged at the Bull. The two of them pounded at each other with their fists. It was a sight to behold as the two men of identical physique each gave it their all in a fistfight to end all fistfights.

Adam was beginning to grow tired. He had been fighting for what felt like an hour at this point. But the Bull showed no sign of tiring. This is impossible! He thought to himself. What is the Beast even trying to prove? He held his arms in defence while the Bull continued to wail on him.

Noticing Adam was distracted, the Bull grabbed one of Adam’s arms and flipped him over his shoulder.

Adam hit the ground with a hard thud. The Bull still had control of his arm. Adam was too exhausted to get up. Chaos was only helpful in small bursts. It drained the body if left unchecked for too long. This thing he was fighting, it wasn’t the Bull, it wasn’t even human, it was the Chaos Elemental. It didn’t need to worry about that drain. He heard the Bull laugh evilly.

The Bull gave a bloodthirsty grin as he snapped Adam’s elbow backward over his knee.

A jolt of horrible, agonizing pain unlike anything Adam had ever felt soared from his arm and he let out a tortured howl.

The Bull simply laughed and dragged Adam over to a tree. Propping him up against a nearby dead tree, the Bull relentlessly beat and battered Adam with his fists. Adam couldn’t even bring himself to lift his good arm to defend himself. He simply stood and took punch after punch to his head and chest.

Suddenly, the Bull pulled Adam from against the tree and threw him to his knees. Adam just stayed put and wobbled. It was all he could do to avoid falling over.

“Don’t you see what you could be if you simply embraced chaos?” The Bull shouted at him as he circled the battered man. “I am perfect. tHe BuLL iS pErFeCt!!!”

“No…” Adam muttered, slurring his words. “You’re not the Bull. The Bull is a dead… You’re just a phantom. A false memory of the past…” He could hardly make words. His blue eyes were now purple and red and a drool of blood dripped from his mouth. “I’m better now, the Bull doesn’t exist!”

The Bull said nothing. He only picked up the knife from the ground and got behind Adam. “YoUrE So DiSaPpOiNtInG!” He grabbed Adam’s hair and pulled his head back.

Adam shut his eyes, waiting for the beast to end him. He was so exhausted and beaten he couldn’t bring himself to keep on fighting anymore.

“There he is! On the ground!” Rallis shouted from atop the King Black Dragon as they flew over across wilderness sky. She leaned forward to get a better look.

Adam was on his knees with his head pulled back by another green man. The other man appeared to have long black hair that went to his shoulders. Rallis watched as he raised what looked like a knife above his head. A set of long, purple tentacles began sprouting from his back. “Shakorexis, hurry! Get the one who’s standing up! That’s the Chaos Elemental!”

“I see it too!” The middle head of the King Black Dragon snapped. The enormous dragon pulled back its wings and it dove down toward the two men.

Rallis held on tight.

All Adam heard was the roar of a mighty beast and then a loud crash as the tree was snapped at the trunk. There was a stunted scream from the Bull as he suddenly let go of Adam’s hair. Adam fell forward and onto his side. He heard the sound of feet hitting the ground amongst the crashing, screaming and growling.

The King Black Dragon smashed into the Bull from the sky and was now ripping him apart with its claws and teeth. The Bull had a set of purple tentacles spouted from his back that he was using to try and fight the KBD to no avail. Adam watched in amazement as the Bull’s raging visage turned to one of absolute horror. The King Black Dragon grabbed the Bull’s legs in its sharp teeth with one head and then bit down on his head with the other and pulled. The Bull bursted in a pillar of smoke and sparks.

The smoke then transformed back into the Beast of chaos itself. It tried to wrap its tentacles around the King Black Dragon’s necks but was easily overpowered. “dOnT iNtErRUuUuUuUuPt!” The Chaos Elemental screeched. “rEeEeEeEeE!”

“Get away from here, cur! I am the king of this realm!” The King Black Dragon roared. It bit down hard of one of the Chaos Elemental’s tentacles and tore it off.

The Beast screamed and exploded into a swarm of ghostly spiders, salamanders, lizards and snakes. They all took off in different directions.

“Adam!” A soothing voice called to him. “Oh my god, what happened to you? Your arm! Are you okay?” The owner of the voice ran toward Adam.

“Rallis!” Adam blurted through the blood in his throat. “My ribs hurt.” He coughed.

Rallis knelt down beside Adam and cradled him. “It’s gonna be alright, Adam!” She said reassuringly. “Who was that guy the Chaos Elemental was supposed to look like.”

Adam was delirious. “Rallis…” He garbled. “You’re alive!” He brushed her cheek with the hand of his good arm. “I was worried… that you got exploded!”

Rallis handed Adam his helmet. “I’m okay, I was teleported down south. Luckily I ran into a friend of mine!”

Adam held the helmet to his chest as though he was hugging it. “Mah victory caboige!” He slurred. His cheeks and tongue were beginning to swell. “You got thome strong frienths Rallith.”

The King Black Dragon approached them. It held a noble posture as it looked down onto Rallis and Adam. It was both inspiring and absolutely horrifying. “Your friend is critically injured, Rallis. Hop on my back. We must get him out of here!” The left head said. Its voice was booming and proud.

Adam felt warmed by the sound of the KBD’s voice. He looked up at Rallis who was nodding in agreement with the KBD. “Thank you, yer mathisthy!” He said as best he could.

The center head growled at Adam. The King Black Dragon picked Adam up with its tail and place him gently on his back.

Rallis grabbed Adam’s backpack and equipment which had fallen to the ground during the fight and then climbed onto the KBD’s back herself.

“Brace yourselves!” The noble dragon warned. He flapped his wings and took off into the sky.

Rallis cheered all the way home while Adam held onto the creature for dear life with his one, not mangled arm.


	5. Epilogue

Rallis pushed open the doors of the hospital and ran to the front desk. The receptionist pointed her in the direction of Adam’s hospital room. Rallis headed down that way. On the way to Adam’s room, she spoke to the doctor about Adam’s condition. She was very worried about him. When Rallis finally reached Adam’s room, she saw him curled up on the bed clutching his chest and stomach. He must’ve really beat himself up about his loss against the Chaos Elemental.

“How are you doing?” Rallis asked.

Adam sighed. “The doctor says I’ll be out in another week. I might need to keep the cast on my arm for a while, but my ribcage should be healed. They say I’m coming along fine.”

“Yeah, he told me.” Rallis said as she sat at the foot of his bed. “So why are you so upset? Are the nightmares back?”

Adam groaned and sat up against his pillow to look at Rallis. “I haven’t had a nightmare since I the Wilderness…” He replied.

Rallis tilted her head. “So, what’s the problem then?” She asked.

“I couldn’t beat the Bull…” He muttered. “I’m weak…”

“The Bull?” Rallis asked.

“I meant the Beast…” Adam corrected himself.

Rallis awkwardly scratched herself behind her ear. “Adam…?”

“Yeah?”

“That guy who the Chaos Elemental had transformed into…” Rallis sighed. “The green man with the long hair. That was the Bull, wasn’t it?”

Adam took a deep breath and parted his beard showing off the scar along his lower jaw. The same scar that the Bull had.

Rallis lowered her ears. “I guess you wanted to be able to beat your past self, huh?”

Adam shook his head. “That… phantom was just an illusion, not the real thing. I’m not mad that I lost, I’m mad that I gave up.”

“You were nearly beaten to death, Adam. I don’t think you gave up.” Rallis corrected him. “It seems like you gave it your all. A lesser man would’ve been dead by now.”

“No, its not that. Earlier in the fight. I let the chaos take hold of me.” Adam sulked. “I gave the Beast exactly what it wanted. I let the chaos take a hold of me! I was the Bull too for a moment. That’s how it beat me. That’s what it wanted to show me, that I needed it.”

“You didn’t need it! You’re good now and that’s all that matters. Learn from the past but don’t live in it!” Rallis went red. “Don’t beat yourself up over what happened back there. I was the one who failed you by not being there when I promised I would be.” Rallis sniffed. “I’m just so glad you’re okay!” Her voice cracked as she said that before she burst into tears and hugged Adam tight.

Adam just sat upright, not knowing what to do or say. He wrapped his arms awkwardly around the dragon and patted her on the back as she continued to sob with her head over his shoulder.

As the dragon’s sobbing began to quiet down into a series of hiccups and sniffs. Adam opened his mouth the speak. “Uhm, Rallis?” He asked.

“Mhm?” A muffled voice sniffed from behind his head.

“Thanks for everything, I’ll make it up to you, I promise… uhm… I normally work alone as an adventurer but after this…” Adam explained. “It’s clear to me that that’s not the best thing to do. I would’ve been dead if it hadn’t been for you.”

Adam felt Rallis’ head nodding. She squeezed him tight.

“And well…” He continued. “I’ve been thinking about starting a party, you know, to go on adventures and explore dungeons with. And I was wondering if you would like to be the first to…”

Adam didn’t even have to finish what he was saying before Rallis started squealing with joy. “Yes!!!! Yes!! I’ll join your party I thought you’d never ask!!!”

The two shook hands and smiled at each other.


End file.
